Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players: Wagner and his Admirers

It's Out of This World: Dedicated to acknowledge and perpetuate the legacy of Maestro Nygaard—founder of the Jupiter Symphony who died in September 2001—the chamber music group celebrates a legacy that denotes musical excellence, gives performance opportunities to outstanding musicians, and imparts a love of and enthusiasm for music through interesting and unusual programs of works in the standard repertoire, as well as pieces by lesser known composers that deserve to be heard.

Regarding the genesis of the program, Jupiter’s artistic director Michael Volpert explained, “Wagner was a genius who changed the direction of music. I don’t subscribe to his philosophy, but we’re not judging his human qualities here. We’re just enjoying his music, and music that pays tribute to him, in a clever and yes sometimes over the top way. A lot of his music was over the top and about super humans. At least that’s how I conceived this program.” Wagner’s astonishing music has indeed made him one of the most influential and consequential figures in the history of Western music and Western culture. The pieces on this program are but a tiny selection of his influence on composers of the 4th quarter of the 19th century (the Baermann Adagio excepted), expressed in various ways.